Derpy Hooves - Offensive? - First Post Update

[The Living Force]

TANRailgun

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Suicidesoldier#1

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TANRailgun

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Make them? No. Reinforce existing societal norms which permit mockery and marginalization of a group of people? Yes.

Which changes absolutely nothing.

And when it turns out the voice acting sounding like a mentally challenged person was unintentional, does that still make it offensive? Are they still reinforcing the mockery and marginalization of a group of people?

Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Maybe they didn't think it "sounded" like a retarded person...?

I've heard that line used a lot in many different arenas. I'm not buying it.

We have reasons to believe that as a logical assumption, as if it had, then it would have never gotten by all the producers and censors involved. What you got to back your argument that it WAS intentional?

Not that it was intentional so much as they either didn't see it as a problem or didn't notice at all.

[tererun the horrifying]

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tererun the horrifying

OMG you horrible people who like MLP. what the hell is the matter with you showing retarded people acting within the community and no one caring? Certainly you should do what the more enlightened people in this thread want to do and that is to make everyone feel ashamed of their existence and stick them in the basement where no one can see them. We all know they did not want to be born different so since they cannot be the same we should pretend they do not exist. end sarcasm.

Maybe if some people did not freak out every time a different person came around and had to make an issue out of their differences we might be in a better place.

I'm pretty sure we'd prefer more positive representations, not something to be made fun of, like how that new sitcom Work It trivializes and makes a big joke out of transgenderism.

Yes, like I said some people like you would prefer a more positive representaton of the world where different people are not allowed to act in society right alongside regular people with no one making an issue out of it. You would like them to be relegated to the basement and special ed field trips where you feel they belong. I appreciate your twisted and ******** mental point of view, but I do not share it and think it is perfectly fine that MLP showed derpy acting right alongside rainbow dash and no one freaking out about it despite the fact it might have lead to a little more effort on the part of others. Granted that is a sort of fantasy as most people would have whined about how derpy wrecked everything and told her she could not play with the other ponies anymore because she was special, but they chose to show a more pleasant version where the ponies just shook off the problems and went on with life.

Sorry you did not like it.

[TANRailgun]

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TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

The Living Force

Make them? No. Reinforce existing societal norms which permit mockery and marginalization of a group of people? Yes.

Which changes absolutely nothing.

And when it turns out the voice acting sounding like a mentally challenged person was unintentional, does that still make it offensive? Are they still reinforcing the mockery and marginalization of a group of people?

Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Bull s**t and you know it. If they really thought it was offensive, do you HONESTLY think it would have gotten past the Hub's censors?

Which is not to say they did it on purpose, but rather that they were either oblivious to it or didn't think it was a problem. Either way, there was problem, it didn't get fixed, and it aired.

So you're admitting that it was a mistake?

[The Living Force]

TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

Silvia Crow

Yeah yeah, I'm really late on this, but it beats digging a 100x40x100 hole in Minecraft.

So yeah, an episode back in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, the animation team recognized the fan character "Derpy Hooves" as canon, even giving her a speaking role. Here's the scene.



Needless to say, there was a pretty big outcry from the...."special needs" community, or at least those that champion for them. They claimed that Derpy Hooves is offensive to differently abled people despite the fan interpretations of the character (Often as the Mail Pony for the town and as a loving, caring mother of Dinky Hooves).

Here's the MLP Wiki page on her.
Here's the fan wiki which covers the initial characterization of the character.

So yeah, is Derpy Hooves offensive to the special needs/differently abled community? And if so, why? Or why not?

Personally, I think this chalks right up there in terms of ridiculousness as people assuming Rainbow Dash is a lesbian simply because of her rainbow colored mane and tomboy attitude.

Edit: And before things get wildly off track, please note that this is NOT a thread about MLP, but rather about if a character from the show/fandom is offensive, or if people are making a big to-do about nothing.

We actually had a big debate about this in the guild, but it turns out that the voice actress thought that Derpy Hooves was a boy, so she tried to imitate what her neighbor's kid sounds like (and he's not mentally challenged) and since THAT was the number one reason people were pissed, it becomes much less of an issue.

Except for the fact that despite what the means were, the ends are still unacceptable. Think of it like serendipity, but bad. It doesn't matter what they wanted to do, because all the refutations in the world will do nothing to change the fact that such a portrayal is harmful to a frequently marginalized group of people, deliberately or not.

But should they then still be demonized the way you have been doing? Or should people like you just learn to accept when someone makes a mistake, and apologizes for misunderstandings, and move on to more important things than a mistake in a kids TV show? stare

If I say something that someone construes as racist, even if I never meant for it to be taken that way, that does not make me a racist. It makes the statement still offensive to those that took offence, but any reasonable person would drop the issue once they realized that it was just a mistake, and that offence or insensitivity was not intended in anyway.

Did they apologize? I don't remember that.

But it does make you insensitive if you refuse to see their side of it and remain adamant that what you did was alright. You screwed up, you don't get to tell people when they can or can't be offended, and when you do, it comes of as extremely privileged and insulting.

The voice actress did. I never said a damn thing about whether or not someone CAN be offended, people CAN be offended by whatever the ******** they want. I'm explaining why I don't find it offensive, and why people just need to drop it.

Why people just need to drop it is pretty much saying that they need to stop being offended because it wasn't actually an offense. Which it was. Defending an accidental offense doesn't put you in the right.

[TANRailgun]

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TANRailgun

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Suicidesoldier#1

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Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Maybe they didn't think it "sounded" like a retarded person...?

I've heard that line used a lot in many different arenas. I'm not buying it.

We have reasons to believe that as a logical assumption, as if it had, then it would have never gotten by all the producers and censors involved. What you got to back your argument that it WAS intentional?

Not that it was intentional so much as they either didn't see it as a problem or didn't notice at all.

It's the censor's and lawyer's JOBS to find potential problems and correct them, before they become real problems, I think it's more than fair to assume that it was just a mistake.

[The Living Force]

tererun the horrifying

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tererun the horrifying

OMG you horrible people who like MLP. what the hell is the matter with you showing retarded people acting within the community and no one caring? Certainly you should do what the more enlightened people in this thread want to do and that is to make everyone feel ashamed of their existence and stick them in the basement where no one can see them. We all know they did not want to be born different so since they cannot be the same we should pretend they do not exist. end sarcasm.

Maybe if some people did not freak out every time a different person came around and had to make an issue out of their differences we might be in a better place.

I'm pretty sure we'd prefer more positive representations, not something to be made fun of, like how that new sitcom Work It trivializes and makes a big joke out of transgenderism.

Yes, like I said some people like you would prefer a more positive representaton of the world where different people are not allowed to act in society right alongside regular people with no one making an issue out of it. You would like them to be relegated to the basement and special ed field trips where you feel they belong. I appreciate your twisted and ******** mental point of view, but I do not share it and think it is perfectly fine that MLP showed derpy acting right alongside rainbow dash and no one freaking out about it despite the fact it might have lead to a little more effort on the part of others. Granted that is a sort of fantasy as most people would have whined about how derpy wrecked everything and told her she could not play with the other ponies anymore because she was special, but they chose to show a more pleasant version where the ponies just shook off the problems and went on with life.

Sorry you did not like it.

No, I'm pretty sure I insinuated that I wanted marginalized groups to stop being stereotyped in the mainstream and turned into punchlines and start being treated like actual people.

[The Living Force]

TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

The Living Force

Make them? No. Reinforce existing societal norms which permit mockery and marginalization of a group of people? Yes.

Which changes absolutely nothing.

And when it turns out the voice acting sounding like a mentally challenged person was unintentional, does that still make it offensive? Are they still reinforcing the mockery and marginalization of a group of people?

Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Bull s**t and you know it. If they really thought it was offensive, do you HONESTLY think it would have gotten past the Hub's censors?

Which is not to say they did it on purpose, but rather that they were either oblivious to it or didn't think it was a problem. Either way, there was problem, it didn't get fixed, and it aired.

So you're admitting that it was a mistake?

I'm open to the possibility. It being a mistake is almost worse. We've come to the point in so many areas that we can't even tell when we're being blatantly offensive anymore. How ******** up is that?

[Tee the Wicked]

I find Derpy no more offensive than I find Osaka from Azumanga Daioh!.

Or in more direct terms, I don't find Derpy offensive, but actually am amused by her.

[The Living Force]

TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

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Suicidesoldier#1

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Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Maybe they didn't think it "sounded" like a retarded person...?

I've heard that line used a lot in many different arenas. I'm not buying it.

We have reasons to believe that as a logical assumption, as if it had, then it would have never gotten by all the producers and censors involved. What you got to back your argument that it WAS intentional?

Not that it was intentional so much as they either didn't see it as a problem or didn't notice at all.

It's the censor's and lawyer's JOBS to find potential problems and correct them, before they become real problems, I think it's more than fair to assume that it was just a mistake.

I've seen enough TV to know that jokes mocking differently abled people tend to fly under the radar often enough.

[IronySandwich]

The Living Force

Which is not to say they did it on purpose, but rather that they were either oblivious to it or didn't think it was a problem. Either way, there was problem, it didn't get fixed, and it aired.

It's one thing to take note when someone actually is playing to a negative stereotype, and another thing entirely to forcibly interpret something as playing to a negative stereotype when it is not.

Derpy is obviously just playing to the "Goofy" style character, the well-meaning but hopelessly clumsy sort that is. For you to call that sort of character "retarded" is something you are doing and, frankly, it's offensive.

[The Living Force]

IronySandwich

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Which is not to say they did it on purpose, but rather that they were either oblivious to it or didn't think it was a problem. Either way, there was problem, it didn't get fixed, and it aired.

It's one thing to take note when someone actually is playing to a negative stereotype, and another thing entirely to forcibly interpret something as playing to a negative stereotype when it is not.

Derpy is obviously just playing to the "Goofy" style character, the well-meaning but hopelessly clumsy sort that is. For you to call that sort of character "retarded" is something you are doing and, frankly, it's offensive.

It is not forcibly interpreting anything. I was in special ed classes. I know how people treat kids in them. I've lived it. Don't give me that horse s**t.

[Suicidesoldier#1]

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Suicidesoldier#1

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Suicidesoldier#1

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Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Maybe they didn't think it "sounded" like a retarded person...?

I've heard that line used a lot in many different arenas. I'm not buying it.

Well I think it's kind of offensive that all retarded people must "sound" a certain way. ._.

I get where you are coming from, like how I understand where everyone is coming from, but retarded people technically don't sound a certain way so I think it's fine.


It may be an up and coming voice actress they wanted to give a job to.

Idk though.

It resembled a string of common negative stereotypes.

Tabitha St. Germain voices Rarity, so no.

Eh what? O_o

As far as common stereotypes goes I suppose you could make that claim but really, have you seen any of the characters on the show?


It's all about stereotypes; the whole show is a stereotype.

The magic of friendship; yech.


The insecurity they are trying to develop in kids to go out and make friends; like, you're self worth is supposed to be based in your acquaintances, and the "magic" you'll achieve?

Crap, if your a mean person you shouldn't try to be friends with others, you're mean, and lots of people end up in a bad crowd to try to "fit in".


On top of the fact no-one should care what others think about them and insecurity and other things are a major part of the show; it's reinforcing stereotype and ideals that has destroyed many generations.

Plus every person is "born to do something" and should get a tattoo on their rear to represent this; I mean really, if this is your first complaint with the series you should really go back and watch it. xp


It is by far presenting some absolutely terrible messages.

But I like the show for all the jokes and stuff, even if it has a deplorable base; "friendship", I mean really, maybe "being a good person", maybe "being yourself", but "FIT INTO A CROWD OR ELSE YOU ARE A LOSER AND YOU WILL LOOK WEIRD" is hardly the message we should be sending kids.

[TANRailgun]

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TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

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Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Bull s**t and you know it. If they really thought it was offensive, do you HONESTLY think it would have gotten past the Hub's censors?

Which is not to say they did it on purpose, but rather that they were either oblivious to it or didn't think it was a problem. Either way, there was problem, it didn't get fixed, and it aired.

So you're admitting that it was a mistake?

I'm open to the possibility. It being a mistake is almost worse. We've come to the point in so many areas that we can't even tell when we're being blatantly offensive anymore. How ******** up is that?

Personally I didn't even think about her being depicted as mentally challenged until you brought it up, which means either I'm not being sensitive enough, or you're being overly sensitive. Take your pick. Now I'M dropping this before I say something I'LL regret and lose a friend.

[Suicidesoldier#1]

TANRailgun

The Living Force

TANRailgun

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TANRailgun

The Living Force

Yes. Especially since there are no accidents on TV, except in live performances.

Bull s**t and you know it. If they really thought it was offensive, do you HONESTLY think it would have gotten past the Hub's censors?

Which is not to say they did it on purpose, but rather that they were either oblivious to it or didn't think it was a problem. Either way, there was problem, it didn't get fixed, and it aired.

So you're admitting that it was a mistake?

I'm open to the possibility. It being a mistake is almost worse. We've come to the point in so many areas that we can't even tell when we're being blatantly offensive anymore. How ******** up is that?

Personally I didn't even think about her being depicted as mentally challenged until you brought it up, which means either I'm not being sensitive enough, or you're being overly sensitive. Take your pick. Now I'M dropping this before I say something I'LL regret and lose a friend.

THE MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP!

[Yoshpet]

Tee the Wicked

I find Derpy no more offensive than I find Osaka from Azumanga Daioh!.

Or in more direct terms, I don't find Derpy offensive, but actually am amused by her.

Yeah, sort of the impression I got. She's just stupid, not mentally handicapped. Although I'm not sure what's meant to be implied from her having strabismus.